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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25348426">back when we only slept three hours</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacobr/pseuds/jacobr'>jacobr</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>fuck it, frat jercy [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, i couldn't leave this au alone</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:27:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,157</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25348426</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacobr/pseuds/jacobr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy’s car is parked on the street in front, and he directs Jason towards it. He’s never been in Percy’s car before, and this feels weirdly heavy, like it’s a stepping stone in their relationship for Jason to be in the passenger seat. He unlocks it when they get there, and tosses Jason the ice scraper from the backseat. “If I’m driving, you have to scrape it off, dude.”</p><p>(Assorted one-shots in the same universe as When All of My Friends Were In One Place. They probably won't make sense if you haven't read the story itself)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson (Past), Jason Grace/Percy Jackson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>fuck it, frat jercy [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1835704</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>72</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. early spring semester, freshman year</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This takes place during their freshman year, when Percy and Annabeth are still dating. I don't usually like to write about trans-specific insecurities like Percy talks about in this scene, because I feel like most media with trans main characters likes to focus on their trauma or the perceived indignities of being trans. To be clear, in this au: Percy loves being trans. However, this scene specifically focuses on some internalized things that are hard to shake when you're trans and also LGB.</p><p>I felt like in the initial story, because it was from Percy's POV, it really only showed Percy taking care of Jason. I wanted to write this scene, in part, to show that their relationship isn't that uneven, that Jason tries to take care of him just as much. Also, re: Luke, I don't want to wade into any kind of discourse but I've always felt that he had decent ideas and just executed them very very poorly. I'm definitely not trying to excuse his actions, but this is my AU so he's just a kind authority figure who's also bi.</p><p>TW: internalized biphobia, very slight mention of Gabe (but not at all graphic)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Percy’s pretty sure that if he doesn’t stop pacing in the house, Beckendorf is gonna either kick him out or just go ahead and smother him with a pillow. He’d do it in a nice way at least. Charles is cool like that. </p><p>	They’re in the kitchen, Beckendorf flipping back and forth between one of his mechanical engineering textbooks and a notepad covered in scribbles. Percy is making a grilled cheese, moving in shallow circles from the stovetop to the fridge, like that’ll do anything to cure his nervous energy. </p><p>	Charles has headphones on, but his eyes keep drifting up every time Percy gets close to him, like he’s monitoring his movements to make sure Percy isn’t having some kind of emergency. </p><p>	He’s not having a breakdown or anything, but he feels a little like he’s on his way. There’s a tightness in his chest, and he can’t stop thinking long enough to sit still. It’s freezing out, so he can’t even go for a run or a late-night gym visit, and it’s already too late to try and go to the pool, do laps until he gets the energy out.</p><p>	He’s poking around in the fridge for butter when he hears the front door open and close, followed by what sounds like Luke saying, “hey man, you good?”</p><p>	There’s no answer, but he turns around in time to see Jason come in, encased in what looks like at least two coats. His face is bright red from the cold, and he’s practically shaking but he still looks a little vacant. His eyes are red-rimmed, but if he was crying he isn’t anymore. </p><p>	He stops when he enters the kitchen, taking in Beckendorf’s set-up at the counter. He seems like he takes a second to process the scene, and his voice is soft and unsure, much more than it usually is. “Hey, I can go if you guys are busy. I don’t want to intrude.”</p><p>	Beckendorf slides his headphones off when he turns to look at Jason, and he very much slides into his Vice President Voice when he answers. “Don’t worry about it, bro. You okay? Do you want to talk?”</p><p>	Jason shakes his head and slides onto one of the stools at the island. He glances towards Percy, but doesn’t acknowledge him beyond that. It fits with their relationship, so far. When they were pledges, they’d bickered pretty much every day, about anything that came up. This semester, they’d been better, but it doesn’t mean they’re friends. </p><p>	Jason is the definition of what a frat boy should be. He’s white, blond, cis, and rich. When they’d introduced themselves with their names and majors, he’d muttered “business, probably.” He seems like a nice enough guy, but Percy was bullied enough in middle school to not trust him.</p><p>	Right now, he’s too stressed to try and lean into being civil with someone like Jason. There’s too much risk for hurt, if Jason decides he wants to take out whatever he’s upset about on Percy by saying prejudiced shit all of a sudden.</p><p>	He tries to focus on his sandwich, but he can still hear Jason settling his head on the counter and what sounds like Beckendorf’s hand rubbing gently on his back for comfort. </p><p>	Percy tosses a pen from the counter back and forth as he waits for the cheese to melt, just to give his hands something to do. He drops it a couple times, and winces every time it hits the ground. He’s not doing a great job of keeping his head down and not annoying everyone around him, like he’d promised himself at the beginning of the year he would.</p><p>	He’s been kicked out of too many schools and clubs to not be hyper aware of when he’s doing something that could be annoying everyone around him. Even if everyone has seemed pretty nice so far, there’s still a risk that he’ll be more trouble than he’s worth.</p><p>	He drops the pen again and Charles puts his hand on the counter, just forceful enough to make Percy and Jason both turn to look at him.</p><p>	Charles always has kindness in his eyes, and it’s no different now, even if his mouth is twisted in annoyance. He looks a little pitying.</p><p>	“Percy, man, what’s going on?”</p><p>	“Nothing,” he says, tucking his hands into his pockets so he won’t keep fiddling with his pen.</p><p>	“Percy.”</p><p>	“I’m fine, dude, I’m sorry. I’ll stop moving around and let you get back to studying.”</p><p>	Charles clearly doesn’t believe him, and flips his textbook closed, resting his elbows onto the counter so he can rest his chin on them. “What’s going on, man? I want to help you, but I can’t if you don’t talk to me.”</p><p>	He’s a really good guy, and Percy wants to trust him but he doesn’t feel like he can put his feelings into words at the moment, so he just tugs a hand through his hair and turns the stove off. “I don’t- I can’t talk about it right now, I’m sorry.”</p><p>	“Okay,” Charles says, drumming his pencil on his closed textbook. “Would it help if you went outside? You could work some of this energy off. It might help you think through it.”</p><p>	It’s a pretty good idea. It’s freezing out, but if it’s that or annoying the vice president of his new frat until he gets kicked out, he’ll take the cold. </p><p>	“You could go too, Jason. It might help with whatever,” he gestures at the other boy’s whole body, the way he’s shaking and pale. “this is.”</p><p>	Jason picks his head up, looking at Beckendorf like he’s gone insane. He waves a hand at the kitchen window, where they can see the snow coming down in sheets. </p><p>	Beckendorf rolls his eyes at him. “So? Snow’s not gonna kill you, Jase.”</p><p>	Percy’s not sure he really wants to go anymore, if Jason’s involved. He doesn’t want to be weak in front of him.</p><p>	He’s thinking it over, avoiding Jason’s eyes, when Luke comes in from the living room. He looks just as good as he did the day they met, and Percy may be dating Annabeth but he’s not blind. He takes a second to look over the other boy, and then focuses back in on what he’s saying. </p><p>	“-pretty this time of year. The beach is covered in snow, but the water isn’t frozen. It’s only an hour or so from here.”</p><p>	He has no idea what Luke’s talking about, but he nods anyway. Jason probably got it, so he can listen to their conversation and try to get it from context.</p><p>	Jason’s looking at him, eyes big and serious but at least he’s stopped shaking. “That might be okay. I do miss the beach, at home.”</p><p>	He didn’t know there was a beach around here, but it might be a nice break. It won’t compare to Montauk, he’s sure, but maybe it’ll be similar enough that he can clear his head.</p><p>	“Sure,” he says, nodding at Jason. “Let’s go. You got the address, Luke? My car is here but I don’t know the roads yet.”</p><p>	Luke rattles something off, and he hopes, again, that Jason got it, because he doesn’t feel like he can retain any kind of information right now.</p><p>	Beckendorf more or less ushers them out of the house, gently but in a way that makes it clear he wants the space back for studying. Percy’s car is parked on the street in front, and he directs Jason towards it. He’s never been in Percy’s car before, and this feels weirdly heavy, like it’s a stepping stone in their relationship for Jason to be in the passenger seat. </p><p>	He unlocks it when they get there, and tosses Jason the ice scraper from the backseat. “If I’m driving, you have to scrape it off, dude.”</p><p>	Jason rolls his eyes at him but obliges, already shivering a little in his coat. He makes pretty good time clearing it off, and by the time he slides into the car Percy already has the heat going (including the seat warmer on the passenger seat, because he’s a good guy).</p><p>	Luckily, Jason did get the address when Luke rattled it off, and he types it into Waze on Percy’s phone without complaint. As they pull onto the street, he reclines his seat and tugs his beanie over his eyes.</p><p>	The drive passes in silence. Jason is either asleep or faking it really well, so Percy flips through his playlist as he drives, hitting the button on his bluetooth adapter to skip as he gets sick of songs without taking his eyes off the road. The fourth or fifth time he cuts a song off in the middle, Jason’s hand comes up to cover his on the adapter, and he pulls his hat back off his eyes with the other.</p><p>	“Percy, dude, are you good?” he asks, more genuine concern in his voice than Percy would have expected. </p><p>	Percy shakes his hand off and skips the next song before putting both hands back on the wheel. “I’m fine. This playlist just sucks.”</p><p>	“Isn’t it your playlist?”</p><p>	Jason doesn’t need to be a smartass right now. “Yeah, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck,” he snaps back, trying to put a little heat into the words so Jason will leave him alone.</p><p>	“Alright.”</p><p>	The highway is so dark and so small that Percy can’t help but speed, even though Jason leans over a little anxiously to pointedly stare at the speedometer a couple times as they pass other cars. He doesn’t say anything though, which is a good call on his part. </p><p>	There’s a few parallel parking spots in front of the entrance to the beach, and he pulls into one without even trying, years of muscle memory kicking in. The rest are empty, and there’s a thin layer of snow over the walkway that leads to the beach. They’re both wearing rubber slides, and he winces as the snow comes up over the edge and makes contact with his bare feet. Jason seems like he’s having the same problem.</p><p>	The beach is beautiful at night, nothing like the ones Percy is used to. The snow covers the sand too, and it crunches as they pick their way through it. The sky is so cloudy that it’s impossible to see where the lake stops and the sky starts, just a blank gray surface stretching on forever. There’s one lighthouse on their right, and it flashes green somewhere in the middle of Lake Ontario.</p><p>	The crunching on his right stops, and he turns to see Jason rolling his sweatpants up to the knee, before taking his slides off to put his bare feet in the snow. He looks fucking ridiculous, pale calves exposed but his upper body still zipped into a huge winter jacket. He looks a little out of it, actually and Percy feels a little worry rise in his chest. Even if they don’t like each other, he doesn’t really want Jason to be having a breakdown.</p><p>	He rolls his own sweatpants up, grabs his own slides and steps over so they’re standing shoulder-to-shoulder, a few feet from the tide. His feet sink below the snow into a puddle of ice cold water but he doesn’t try to move, just lets it flood into the hole he made until it’s up to his ankles.</p><p>	It hurts, but it also calms him down a little, and from the look on Jason’s face it’s working for him too.</p><p>	They stand there, silent, until Jason takes a few steps forward, enough to let the waves from the lake crash over his feet. The water splashes up onto his pants a little but he doesn’t flinch. When Percy steps up next to him, he extends an arm without turning his head to face him.</p><p>	“Do you want a hug, man? I know we’re not really friends, but you seemed like you could use one earlier.”</p><p>	There’s absolutely no inflection in Jason’s voice, like he doesn’t want to sound like he cares too much. </p><p>	Percy leans in, lets Jason wrap the arm around his shoulders and pull him in, wrapping his other arm around him so they’re standing chest-to-chest in the water. The waves lap over their ankles and calves but Jason doesn’t let go, and eventually some of the energy starts to seep out of Percy, until he just feels tired instead of like he’s going to shake out of his skin.</p><p>	The water starts to burn around his feet, the cold finally too much, and he drags Jason out with him, stepping over the snow on the beach until they can get inside the small gazebo they’d passed earlier. </p><p>	There’s hard wooden benches, and Jason tucks himself on to one of them, looking a lot smaller than he usually does. Percy follows suit and sits cross legged on the one next to him. They’re far enough apart for plausible no-homo deniability, even if he’s pretty sure Jason isn’t homophobic.</p><p>	He pulls his sweatpants back down over his calves, and tucks his coat around them, trying to trap all the heat he can. Now that he’s not as full of nervous energy, the cold is biting. </p><p>	Jason does the same, before fiddling in his jacket pocket and coming out with what looks like a pen. He hits it once and hesitates briefly before he passes it over to Percy.</p><p>	It’s definitely a pen, and he looks up at Jason in shock for a second. He didn’t think he had it in him. Jason makes a face back, a little like he’s saying “do you really want to do this right now?” </p><p>	He’s got a point, so Percy shakes it off and takes a hit, passing it right back so he doesn’t actually get high and strand them there without a ride. </p><p>	Jason puts it back in his mouth, but just kind of holds it there, like he’s using it to settle himself. </p><p>	They sit in silence for a few minutes, Percy staring out at the waves he can barely see, listening to the pen crackle a few times as Jason hits it. Finally, he feels something hit the sleeve of his coat gently, and looks down to see the remnants of a soft snowball sliding down his sleeve. Jason is grinning at him when he looks up, amused but still a little more fragile than he usually looks.</p><p>	“Do you want to talk about it? I know you didn’t want to tell Luke or Beckendorf but,” he glances out at the lake for a second. “I don’t know, I just thought maybe it would be different if it was me.” </p><p>	He’s got a point. He doesn’t want to bring it up with anyone in leadership, because there’s a difference between being a trans person in a frat and making everyone acknowledge that he’s a trans person in a frat. Luke and Beckendorf obviously know, but no one mentions it. If he makes it obvious, they might just decide they don’t want to deal with him and force him out.</p><p>	They probably wouldn’t, but there’s always a chance.</p><p>	Jason is his peer, though. He doesn’t have any power over Percy.</p><p>	He weighs his options and comes down on the side of opening up for once. He can’t keep long-distance bothering Grover all the time. </p><p>	“You know I’m trans, right?” he asks, tilting his head so he can see Jason’s nod of acknowledgement out of the corner of his eye. “And I’m dating Annabeth from Alpha Sig?” Another nod, and another crackle from the pen. </p><p>	This seems fine so far, so he keeps going, eyes fixed on the green from the lighthouse he can still barely see. “When I got into high school, I came out. Uh, my first step-dad wasn’t great, so I didn’t really open up to people in middle school? Like, I couldn’t do it at all. And then Paul, that’s my stepdad now, and my mom really helped with that, and by the time I got to high school I could do it, a little bit. Enough to come out, at least.”</p><p>	The process to get to the point where he could talk about it was horrible, but his mom had his back unwaveringly, and then she married Paul, a man with a pride flag hung up in his classroom so “everyone would know that they can be safe here.” He couldn’t ask for a better support system, so it makes him feel even worse to still feel like this. </p><p>	The light blinks a little faster for a second, and he stares at it. “I thought I was a lesbian, once,” and he hates the way his voice cracks over the words, higher than it should be. There’s a knot in his throat, and Jason makes a noise of concern in his chest.</p><p>	A warm hand lands on his shoulder, and he turns his head to meet Jason’s eyes, the way his scar stands out when his mouth is tensed in worry. The other boy jams himself in between Percy’s side and the arm of the bench, angling himself so he can keep a supportive hand on Percy’s shoulder. “Yeah?” </p><p>	Jason’s rarely loud, doesn’t ever need to raise his voice to be heard or respected, but this is even gentler than usual, like he’s afraid he’ll spook Percy away from him.</p><p>	“When I was in middle school, I had already cut my hair short, and I knew I didn’t feel like I should be wearing dresses, or anything like that.” He knows he’s breaking gender down to specific roles, and that boys can wear dresses too, but he can’t shake the feeling of being thirteen and just feeling wrong in them. “And, I didn’t really know what being trans was, so I thought oh, okay, you know who doesn’t wear dresses but are still girls? Lesbians.” </p><p>	Jason’s thumb rubs back and forth over his collarbone, slow and heavy. </p><p>	“So then I came out in high school, and I swam on the boys’ team, and I realized that hey, I might like these guys as more than just friends, you know?” He’s never been clear on if Jason is okay with gay people, feels like he must be if he doesn’t mind being around Luke and Percy. Jason doesn’t seem surprised at all, just makes an encouraging noise and nods for Percy to keep going. </p><p>	“But I always liked girls too, like it wasn’t just my confusion with my gender that made me think I was a lesbian. So, I got here, and I met Annabeth pretty much right away, and she’s one of my best friends, and then we started dating,” this is the part where it might get kind of confusing to explain to someone who isn’t also trans, or isn’t queer. </p><p>	“She’s the best, and I really care about her, but I just have this fear in my chest that I’m lying to myself about liking her, because somewhere in my head I feel like I have to have a girlfriend to be a guy.” it’s very internalized homophobia of him, and he hates himself even as it leaves his mouth. </p><p>	That’s about as much explanation as he can manage, so he tries to send Jason an indication telepathically that he can say something now, to not make Percy stew in having shared some of his deepest insecurities with someone who doesn’t even really like him that much.</p><p>	Jason looks at him, consideringly, and must get the message somehow because he mutters, “do you wanna hear what I think?” so quietly that Percy almost misses it. He must get a nod out or something, because Jason takes a cue from somewhere to continue. “Just, I want to make sure I’m understanding this right, you’re bi, but you think you’re gay and lying to yourself about being bi because you think you have to like girls to be a guy?”</p><p>	He nods again, and takes the pen when Jason drops it into his lap silently. It’s almost dead, but the little crackle noise calms him down, just a bit.</p><p>	“I mean, I know you know this, but we know plenty of guys who don’t like girls. You’d never look at any of them and think wow, actually you’re not a dude,” he looks at Percy’s face, considering, like he wants to make sure he’s doing okay at his pep talk. “Also, society hates bi people, dude. If people tell you over and over that bi people aren’t real, eventually you’re gonna internalize that, you know? I can’t tell you how you’re supposed to feel, but I can tell you that from what I’ve seen, it looks like you do genuinely care about Annabeth. You look at her like she’s the only person in the room, not like you feel like you have to pretend to look at her.”</p><p>	Percy is a little distracted from what Jason’s saying by how well he seems to be doing. He might have to reevaluate his opinion of the guy if he can pull any kind of coherent thought about the intersection of gender and sexuality out of his ass at a moment’s notice. It’s clumsy, but it’s definitely at least a little thought out.</p><p>	“I know I can’t really weigh in on the gender part of this, but I know how it feels to think you’re faking your sexuality. It’s rough, but I promise you know yourself better than whatever faceless biphobic voice you’re imagining saying all of this to you.”</p><p>	He’s completely unsubtle about whipping his head around at the words, and Jason laughs at him. </p><p>	“I’m bi too, dude, I really thought you knew that,” his voice is casual, but there’s a little bit of a crack in it, like he’s had to fight about it before, and isn’t willing to leave any room for argument. </p><p>	There’s absolutely no way he’s ever said that to Percy before, because he most definitely would have remembered, but Jason clearly doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it so Percy just offers a fistbump, which Jason accepts. </p><p>	“But yeah, it’s not easy. Still, there’s nothing that can make you not a dude. You could wear a dress every day for the rest of your life, but you’d still be a guy. Everything else is just the kind of guy you are.” </p><p>	Percy isn’t going to cry, but he does let himself tip his head onto Jason’s shoulder. He’s still not sure where they stand, but they’ve got to be at least sort of friends at this point. Jason slides his hand up into Percy’s hair and scratches through it gently a few times, before tangling it around his fingers and tugging gently. </p><p>	He pulls his head back up and slides away a little, so he can look Jason in the eyes. “Do you want to talk about your thing, now? You looked pretty upset.” </p><p>	“It’s kind of dumb,” Jason says, in a tone of voice that implies that he very much would like to talk about it.</p><p>	“And?”</p><p>	“I called my dad today.”</p><p>	Jason never talks about his parents. Percy doesn’t even know his dad’s name, and they’ve known each other for a good six months. He tries to nod encouragingly, the same way Jason did for him.</p><p>	“He’s still really upset that I didn’t go to an Ivy, if I was going to be on the east coast. He wanted me either there, or UCLA. Close to home, or prestigious, so he can talk me up to his big money friends.”</p><p>	Their lives are very different.</p><p>	“Our compromise for being here is that I’d major in business or accounting, so that I could work for him when I graduate. I never really wanted to do that, but I didn’t know what I wanted to major in, so I just agreed. When I called him today, I told him that I wanted to go into a major where I could actually do something that would benefit the people around me, and he was,” he makes a vague gesture with his hands, “unhappy.”</p><p>	Percy wants to return the favor, lean back in and put his hand on Jason’s shoulder or something, but he holds himself back, wanting to let Jason finish first.</p><p>	“He doesn’t understand not wanting to be the most powerful person in the room, you know? That’s all he’s ever wanted, so he flipped when my sister dropped out of college to volunteer for Doctors Without Borders. She’s a lesbian too, so I think he’s just upset he got, I don’t know, gay kids who have souls?”</p><p>	Percy can’t stop himself from snickering a little at that, and he flashes his eyes up to make sure he didn’t offend Jason by accident, but he has a little satisfied look on his face, like his intention was to lighten the mood a little.</p><p>	“But, yeah, I don’t know. We fight a lot and my stepmom hates me, so we almost never talk, which means it can get really ugly when we do.”</p><p>	He seems like that’s about all he’s willing to say, so Percy gives in to the urge to put his hand on Jason’s shoulder, squeezing gently and then just leaving it there. It rises gently with each of Jason’s breaths, in a suspiciously regular pattern, like Jason’s trying as hard as he can to keep himself under control.</p><p>	He leaves him to it for a second, watches the lighthouse blink so Jason can collect himself a little in privacy. Eventually, he hears Jason shifting around and turns back to watch him put both feet back on the ground and spread his legs so he can slump down into the bench, eyes unfocused and looking out at the lake. </p><p>	He’s definitely a little high, even from just a few hits, but Percy restrains the urge to mock him for it. They’ve made some progress tonight that he doesn’t want to undo by accidentally being a little too mean. </p><p>	He slides down to match Jason’s posture and nudges their knees together. “We good, dude?”</p><p>	Jason nudges his leg back. “Yeah. Can we just sit here, though? Please?”</p><p>	There’s already a chill in Percy’s bones from how soaked his feet and calves are, but he also feels more at peace than he has all day, like the anxiety/dysphoria/biphobia mixture in his brain has finally settled down. “Yeah, man. Whatever you need.”</p><p>	His phone buzzes with a text from Annabeth, asking if he wants to meet for lunch tomorrow and he can’t help the grin he feels on his face. “Sure,” he texts back. “Can’t wait.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. a few parties, sophomore year</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I know it's been months, but I couldn't stop thinking about at least getting through this chapter. I love Nico and Jason's friendship, and I wanted to work through how I thought they would have become friends in this AU.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Percy was Nico’s big, initially. It was assigned more on personality than anything else, Beckendorf taking one look at a kind of bitchy kid with dark hair and deciding Percy was the best choice to mentor him into adulthood, or whatever. </p>
<p>He was a great big, was the worst part. Nico couldn’t even find a real reason to hate him. He never seemed upset that Nico didn’t want to share any information about his own life, and never tried to pressure his tragic backstory out of him. He was always there if Nico had an issue, even if the only issues he’d actually tell Percy about were things like class scheduling and working with a TA.</p>
<p>It had been so long since Nico had had that kind of support from someone who wasn’t his sister, that he couldn’t handle it. Percy was fucking kind, and he never looked like Nico was bothering him. He never made fun of him, beyond gentle teasing, and as soon as he noticed that it was bothering Nico, he’d stopped that too. He’d wave Nico over if he saw him on campus, even if he was sitting with his girlfriend, or guys that weren’t from Kappa Sig. </p>
<p>“Hey, man,” he’d say, pulling Nico down next to him with an arm around his shoulders. “This is my son, Nico. Nico, these are my friends.” It always took him a second to fake a smile back, after being referred to as Percy’s son. He wouldn’t even bother, usually didn’t care if someone thought he was standoffish or an asshole (because he was), but he wanted Percy to see that he could fit into his life, as a boyfriend instead of a little brother or a son.</p>
<p>He hated Annabeth, a little. She was bright where Nico was pale and dull. She was kind and cheerful enough that everyone liked her, but she still had enough fire in her to go head to head with Percy when he was being a douchebag. They clearly fit together, kind of perfectly. </p>
<p>The worst part was that she was so fucking nice to him, like she either couldn’t tell that he hated her, or just didn’t care. She’d even wave if she wasn’t with Percy, like Nico meant something to her besides being the annoying kid her boyfriend hung around out of like, duty.</p>
<p>Kappa Sig didn’t really haze pledges, just spread rumors about it so the assholes in Gamma couldn’t make fun of them for being soft. The only thing they ever made Nico do was door duty at parties, sometimes by himself and sometimes with Will, who seemed like he was just happy to be there. It was fine, and he’d always get relieved after a while so he could come into the party and actually talk to people.</p>
<p>Percy tried to wingman for him a couple times, but Nico didn’t care enough to actually tell him what his type was, so it never worked out. He’d hang out by the wall, talk to Hazel if she was there and maybe smile at the drunk girls who came up to him. They’d flirt with him because he was a Kappa Sig, even if they seemed like they wouldn’t give him the time of day normally. It was fucking weird to get used to.</p>
<p>Hazel had rushed Alpha Sig, the sorority that Percy’s girlfriend was in, and she loved it. Her big was a girl named Piper, who was apparently best friends with Annabeth (bad), but Hazel loved her, so he was inclined to like her too. </p>
<p>Hazel was having no trouble making friends, as always, so at least one sibling was having a good time. She was nice enough to still come over and keep him company at parties though, instead of heading across the basement to flirt with Frank, the sophomore Kappa Sig who’d been making eyes at her all night. Nico was trying not to glare back. Frank seemed like a nice guy, and Hazel should be with someone like that. </p>
<p>He was also trying not to stare at Percy, too much. Percy had some kind of innate ability to light up whatever room he was in, and it was only amplified at parties. He’d do something disgusting, like finish a keg stand and burp right in someone’s face, and everyone would just laugh it off, like it was fine because he was hot.</p>
<p>Nico wouldn’t be like, that upset if Percy burped in his face, if it meant that he got to see the blinding smile that always followed.</p>
<p>He’d disappear sometimes, like he was hooking up, but Annabeth was usually still in the room, so that couldn’t be it. It was kind of suspicious, but she didn’t seem upset, so Nico tried not to think about it. It would be easy to hate Percy, if he was cheating on his girlfriend. It would give Nico a reason to dislike him, one that was actually his fault, instead of just the horrible fact that he would never see Nico as more than his fraternity-assigned son, or whatever. </p>
<p>Percy was playing beer pong, that night, him and Annabeth versus Piper and Jason, another one of the sophomores. Jason was Leo’s big, but they got along easily, and seemed more like equals than anything else. He seemed like a good dude, if a little quiet sometimes. He was a little kinder than Percy, a lot less likely to make fun of you, but equally likely to give you the shirt off his back.</p>
<p>He was only ever rude to Percy, from what Nico had seen during rush. Even then, it was lighthearted, like they cared more about making each other laugh than actually hurting each other’s feelings.</p>
<p>It hadn’t always been like that, Annabeth had confided to Nico one day when Percy dragged him along to lunch with them. Jason had walked by and Percy had tossed a little stick at him, enough to get his attention and when he’d turned around, Percy had greeted him with a “Your hair looks dumb today, dude. You tryna be Clark Kent, or what?”</p>
<p>They’d bickered for a little, and Annabeth had just rolled her eyes at them and turned back to explain it to Nico. Apparently, their freshman year, they’d argued about anything and everything, until Beckendorf and Luke, the president that year, had sat them down and made them talk it out. </p>
<p>As Nico and Hazel watched, Jason sunk a redemption shot and flipped Percy off, accepting the kiss that Piper planted on his cheek in celebration. They wrapped the game up pretty quickly after that, Piper apparently having some kind of secret untapped pong skill. </p>
<p>Percy and Annabeth wandered off to get a drink, heading for the cooler of beer. Jason took a swig of his own drink, that looked like it might be Dakota’s jungle juice mixed with beer (Disgusting. Horrifying. Nico hated men), and looked around the basement, like he was scanning for their next opponent. His eyes landed on Hazel and Nico, leaning against the wall, and lit up a little, leaning down to say something in Piper’s ear. She’d grinned too, and waved them over, Hazel going easily and Nico trailing her reluctantly. </p>
<p>Jason bullied them gently into teams, him and Nico versus Piper and Hazel. “For glory!” he’d cheered, passing Nico his cup like there was any chance he was gonna drink whatever was in there. “May the best team win.”</p>
<p>Piper and Hazel had wiped the floor with them, easily, but Jason hadn’t seemed like he cared too much that they were losing. He’d cheered encouragingly every time Nico made a shot, even when they were well behind, and hugged him at the end of the game. </p>
<p>“Dude, we’ll improve your pong skills, just you wait. I promise, you graduate from Kappa Sig, best player in the room.”</p>
<p>He could hear Piper and Hazel laughing together, at something that had nothing to do with him, and he tried not to look too put out when he glanced over. It must have shown on his face a little, because Jason had wrapped his arm back around his shoulders, and pulled him towards the drinks.</p>
<p>They’d spent the rest of the night together, Jason seemingly happy to talk about absolutely nothing in particular while Nico listened and tried to seem like he cared. He wasn’t gonna make friends if he didn’t, and he couldn’t keep going with only Hazel on his side. He shouldn’t be a burden on her like that.</p>
<p>He learned that Jason was from California, which explained the tan and the accent that sounded nothing like the western New York vowels they were surrounded by. He has a dog named Jupiter, who he loves more than anything. He has a sister, who’s his best friend even though she never comes home from where she’s volunteering overseas, and he misses her desperately. He and Piper dated in high school, but they’re well past that now. </p>
<p>He’d made a meaningful face at where Piper and Annabeth were talking, and made some comment about how he hoped she figured that out soon. It hadn’t made any sense to Nico at the time. Annabeth had a hand on Piper’s hip, a little too flirty to just be friends, and  Percy was nowhere to be found. Was Jason rooting for his friend to break up Percy’s relationship?</p>
<p>He didn’t bring up his parents mostly, and Nico didn’t ask.</p>
<p>He was majoring in civil engineering, because he loves the idea of designing things that help all people, not just the rich. He liked football and hockey, football because he’d played in high school, and hockey because he’d really liked the color purple as a kid, and the Kings were purple, sometimes.</p>
<p>He had a tattoo on his forearm, “SPQR” in big letters with an eagle above it. Nico asked about it, quietly, and Jason explained that his family loved military history, and his dad thought the Roman Empire was the greatest civilization on Earth because of their commitment to discipline and hard work. </p>
<p>He didn’t say that he agreed, and tucked the arm behind his back, like it would make the tattoo disappear if it wasn’t visible anymore.</p>
<p>The party wound down, and Jason tugged him out of the basement, back to the Kappa Sig house. They’d ended up on the roof, climbing out through Beckendorf’s window because Jason swore up and down that he wouldn’t give a shit. </p>
<p>It was warm, for New York in October, and Nico hadn’t shivered at all when he stared at the lights of the house across the street, careful not to look at Jason. “My sister died, when I was young. And it hasn’t really been the same, since.”</p>
<p>He started counting Jason as a real friend, after that. He was maybe the first Nico had made, because he was pretty sure Hazel didn’t count. Jason made him go to the house to do homework, instead of just locking himself in the library for hours. He made him go to dinner there sometimes too, when some of the older guys would whip up something halfway edible for everyone. </p>
<p>Jason wasn’t like Nico, had enough friends that he could have never spoken to him again and not felt a single hit in his social life, but he was nice enough to keep pestering Nico when he was being bitchy, make him go to things and talk to people. </p>
<p>Percy seemed slightly put out, that his little had been stolen, but he didn’t take it out on Nico. He still did everything the same, reached out if he hadn’t heard from Nico in a few days and did his best to make him feel included. Jason felt safer though, maybe because he was too nice for Nico to fall in love with him. </p>
<p>They’d been at a darty when Nico had finally cracked and told Jason why he was so standoffish sometimes, about being involved. </p>
<p>Darties were really more of a spring semester thing, apparently, but the sun was shining and Crow wanted to drink in their backyard, so the word went out and Jason and Percy showed up at Nico’s dorm to drag him out. </p>
<p>They’d lost Percy as soon as they got there, pulled away by some dude to argue about the Bills. The guy was big, and hot as fuck, and he’d gotten Percy’s attention by wrapping an arm around his waist, a little more familiar than Nico would expect given that Percy had a girlfriend. </p>
<p>Nico never felt like dancing, and Jason had had a little bit of a headache (“history of concussion” he’d explained the first time it happened. “Football is the fucking worst.”), so they’d gotten back out on the roof, because Jason loved to be up high for some reason, and Nico wasn’t gonna begrudge his new friend the one quirk.</p>
<p>No one else had been on the roof, because it was rickety as fuck, but Jason seemed confident about it so Nico didn’t say anything. Jason had handed him a beer from his pocket (somehow?) and leaned back against the tile. “I know something’s bothering you, dude. You’ve been staring at Annabeth on and off, like since we got here.”</p>
<p>He hadn’t really been staring, more like looking away every time she ended up in his field of vision, because he didn’t want to see how brightly she was laughing at something Hazel was saying. (The traitor loved Annabeth, and he couldn’t really blame her, because then he’d have to explain why he didn’t like her.)</p>
<p>“I’m not staring at Annabeth.”</p>
<p>“I mean, you kind of are. Like, no judgement dude, but also I think she’d eat you alive.” </p>
<p>Nico could not figure out a single scenario in which Annabeth would be even kind of close enough to eat him alive. “Huh?”</p>
<p>“Like, she’s the best, but she’s also intimidating as fuck. I think Percy and Piper are the only people who aren’t scared of her.”</p>
<p>He really didn’t want to be having this conversation about how Percy feels about his girlfriend. “Yeah?”</p>
<p>“I mean, you could definitely still ask her out, if you wanted. She’s probably too hung up on Piper to say yes, and I’m not sure you’re her type, but she’d be nice about it. Maybe it would help you get over her.”</p>
<p>There was a lot of information in that sentence, and he hadn’t been sure where to start. “Isn’t she dating Percy though? I thought they’ve been together for like a year?” He wanted to hold his breath a little, too afraid of either answer.</p>
<p>Jason had laughed, chugged a little more of his beer. “Nah, dude. They got together, I guess about a year ago, but they broke up in May. They’re just friends, now.” He gestured across the yard, where Nico could see Percy pressing some guy up against the house, making out enthusiastically. It was the same one he’d been talking about football with, earlier.</p>
<p>Maybe Annabeth wasn’t so bad, after all. </p>
<p>Jason had looked at him consideringly for a second before he continued. “Wait, is that why you’ve been so weird with Percy? Because you have a crush on Annabeth and you thought they were dating?”</p>
<p>He hadn’t been that far off, honestly, but Nico hadn’t wanted to get into it. “No, dude. I don’t have a crush on Annabeth.”</p>
<p>Jason made a face like he couldn’t believe Nico would lie to him so blatantly. “Are you sure? ‘Cause now that I’m thinking about it, you stare at them a lot, especially when they’re together, and unless you have a crush on Percy or something-”</p>
<p>Nico’s face had never given him away before, but Jason might have known him better than he thought, because his eyes had gotten wide and his face had turned sympathetic faster than Nico could process what had happened. </p>
<p>“You’re in love with Percy.”</p>
<p>Nico couldn’t respond, and there’d been a little sting behind his eyes, like his body was gonna betray him and cry in front of Jason.</p>
<p>"Nico. Hey, Neeks, I need you to look at me for a second. There’s nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with you. You’re still one of us. I’ve got your back, dude.” He’d wavered for a second, looking visibly conflicted. “Can I hug you, is that okay?”</p>
<p>He’d only been able to nod, but Jason had taken that as an invitation and pulled him into his arms. “Plus, I think everyone has a crush on Percy at some point. He’s just like that.” He sounded like he was speaking from experience, and Nico had twisted around in his arms to look at him, suspicious.</p>
<p>“Yeah, even me. He was still with Annabeth though, so I never did anything about it. Fuck, I’m pretty sure Luke recruited him just because he thought he was pretty. I promise, we’ve all been there.”</p>
<p>“Don’t tell him?”</p>
<p>“Never.” </p>
<p>They drank their beer, and Jason let Nico tease him about ever liking Percy for a while, until he felt better. </p>
<p>“You know, he’s a good guy, if you let him be nice to you. He wants to take care of you, and I know it’s not what you want from him, but let me speak from experience: Percy Jackson in your life in any way is better than Percy Jackson not in your life.”</p>
<p>He and Jason were inseparable, after that. Nico trusted him, more than he’d ever trusted someone who wasn’t Bianca or Hazel. Jason bullied him into making friends with the rest of his pledge class, bullied him into making friends with people at parties. Sometimes, he’d leave Nico with Hazel or Frank for a minute, and come back with a guy from a different frat. They were always tan, with dark curly hair and bright eyes. He wouldn’t say anything, just introduce them and disappear, pretending Piper was calling for him or something.</p>
<p>It was nice.</p>
<p>Eventually, he’d gotten over Percy. They became friends, for real, mostly because Jason was so crushingly loyal that he’d dragged them together over and over again, insisting that the two guys he loved most in the world should know eachother better.</p>
<p>Jason was the first person he told, the next year, when he kissed Will at the house’s kitchen table, bent over his stupid pre-med biology textbook. Jason dragged him into a headlock and tousled his hair until Nico called uncle, but he’d been smiling so big that Nico thought his stupid face would burst. </p>
<p>He’d laughed his ass off when Nico told him, with an ashamed look on his face, that Will had thought they were already dating. Apparently, coffee after class, and falling asleep on the couch together, and studying for hours, and taking a guy out to dinner to celebrate a quiz grade were not just friendship things. </p>
<p>Years later, when they’re all well past college, Nico will call him on a random Sunday afternoon and let Jason ramble about his dog and Percy and their asshole neighbor for a while. When Jason wears himself out, and asks Nico how he’s doing, Nico will ask him to be his best man.</p>
<p>Jason will cry, and then he’ll say yes.</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. sunday morning, spring break, senior year</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jason is trying his very best to not be a creep, but if the glances Nico keeps shooting at him are to be believed, his best isn’t very good. He’s got his back propped up against the counter in the kitchen, cradling his coffee cup and looking out at the horizon through the floor-to-ceiling windows.</p><p>It’s beautiful out, sunny and clear. He can hear the waves even through the glass, faint but still there, just white noise in the background. There’s almost no other sounds, just low-level chatter from where Will and Nico are sitting in the living room, the soft sound of Jupiter’s tail thumping against the ground, and what sounds like Leo tinkering on something in the driveway. </p><p>He’s ignoring the loudest sound, Percy’s workout playlist blaring from Annabeth’s speaker in the backyard. The way the backyard slopes, he can only see their arms and heads, popping in and out of view as they do jumping jacks in place at the beginning of their circuit. He takes a moment to be thankful that he can only see that much of them, because he’s self aware enough to know he wouldn’t be able to control his staring otherwise.</p><p>He’d thought he was past this in high school. You learn really quickly not to stare at guys working out, if you’re gonna be in a locker room with them afterwards, vulnerable and exposed. Even in a pretty liberal area, that doesn’t go over well. </p><p>It had been beaten into him (only metaphorically, luckily) by the time he got to college. Unfortunately Percy is the exception to the rule, like always. He’s (obviously) not homophobic, and he doesn’t mind attention as much as he did when they first met. If he’s in a good mood and he catches someone looking at him, he’ll flex a little, all fake bravado. If he’s having a bad day, he’ll blush and look away. </p><p>Jason hates himself for how he reacts when that happens, but the way Percy flushes and ducks is so sweet that it makes his heart squeeze in his chest to look at him. Everyone knows that Percy doesn’t deal with affection well, and he leans into it, jokes about how his douchebag first stepdad fucked him up. It makes Jason fucking feral, makes him want to do something insane, like pin Percy down and make him listen to Jason talk about how smart and kind and beautiful he is until he has no choice but to believe it.</p><p>Still, Jason tries not to look at him for too long, more out of respect than lack of want. It’s not Percy’s fault that Jason can’t tear his eyes off him sometimes. He doesn’t need to be objectified when he’s just trying to work out. </p><p>At least they don’t exercise together that often. It helps him keep whatever his problem is about not being able to keep his eyes to himself under wraps.</p><p>The downside is that he sees this side of Percy so rarely that when it comes out, he gets a little dumb. </p><p>Percy likes to wear shorts that show off the muscle in his thighs, and old t-shirts that have been shredded to shit. Usually, the sleeves have been cut off, and the holes left in their place run the length of the shirt. Sometimes, they’ve been cut into a kind of crop top as well, the hem resting at his waist if his arms are down, but pulling up to his ribcage if he stretches. </p><p>Those are simultaneously Jason’s favorites and least favorites, the ones that show off almost all of his skin, tan and warm and stretched tight over hard muscle. </p><p>He’s wearing one now, a shirt from his high school that would be too small if he hadn’t torn it up. Jason had been very careful to talk to Nico as Percy and Annabeth headed out onto the deck, his back to the door so he wouldn’t be tempted to watch them pass.</p><p>He really is mostly looking at the horizon, enjoying the feeling of being home. It’s not his fault if his eyes glance down every once in a while, to where Percy’s arms are coming up each time he jumps off the ground. The dark lines of his tattoo only emphasize his bicep, make it a little harder to look away. </p><p>Unfortunately, he’s too distracted to hear Piper come up next to him, and it takes her snapping her fingers in front of his face a couple times for him to look over. She’s grinning, but he sees a little commiseration in her expression, like she knows exactly what he’s thinking, because she’s thinking it too. </p><p>He lets her pull his coffee out of his hands and take a couple sips, making a face at the amount of milk in it. “Are you really just standing here, watching them work out?”</p><p>He’d lie, if it wasn’t her asking, but they’ve known each other too long for him to get away with it. He tries anyway, just for the deniability. “No.”</p><p>She fixes him with the most disappointed face she can manage, before she pours her own coffee and leans up against the counter next to him, one hand stretched down so she can scratch Jupiter behind the ears. “You should really talk to him, you know. This whole ‘staring at him every time he moves’ thing is getting kind of old.”</p><p>He tilts his head towards her. “Like you’re any better. Don’t think I didn’t see you watching Annabeth during football yesterday. The second she took her shirt off, you looked like you were gonna choke to death on your Truly.”</p><p>“Yeah,” she says, meeting his eyes a little defiantly. “But I’m a lesbian. We don’t talk to each other. We just sit on our feelings, and then eventually, we die.”</p><p>“Whatever, Pipes,” he says, looking back out at where the sun is gleaming off of Percy’s hair. “You know she likes you.”</p><p>“Percy literally fell asleep in your lap two nights ago, babe. He let you hold him for hours, while he was wearing your clothes.”</p><p>“He does that with everyone,” Jason says, aware of how stupid it sounds. “He would’ve done it with Frank, or Annabeth.” </p><p>Percy and Annabeth have shifted a little further down the yard, so now he can see all of Percy, sweaty and worn out and laughing at something Annabeth is saying as he chugs water out of a bottle. </p><p>He’s a fucking sight. </p><p>Piper shakes her head at him. “No he wouldn’t. You know he wouldn’t, Jay.” He ignores her, but she seems like she’s done letting him get away with this, because she keeps going anyway. “When he tucked his head into your neck and started snoring, you looked like you saw God or something.”</p><p>He feels warm even thinking about it. He’d felt like his heart was going to burst, that Percy trusted him like that. He’d been scared to breathe, like any movement would dislodge the boy on his chest, but as Percy snored, he’d gotten bold enough to run his hands through his hair and then up and down his back, as gently as he could.</p><p>He hadn’t been able to stop the soft “baby” that had slipped out of his mouth when Percy seemed like he was waking up. </p><p>It had been worth the mocking from Piper and Nico later, getting to hold him like that. They touch a lot, between crashing in the same bed, or sitting in each other’s laps on the sofa, or bumping shoulders when they walk places, but it’s almost never a touch that could be described as tender. It felt like a dream to have Percy leaning into him because he felt safe in Jason’s arms, no trace of even joking aggression.</p><p>“Jason,” she says, rubbing one hand up and down his back. “Just talk to him. He loves you, we can all see it.”</p><p>“What if he doesn’t, though,” he says, pitching his voice lower so the guys in the living room can’t hear him. “I don’t want to lose him for that, he’s my best friend.”</p><p>Piper kicks him a little, gently, and he amends his statement. “He’s one of my best friends. You know it’s different with him though, it always has been.”</p><p>“Yeah,” she says, staring out the window at where Annabeth is fixing her ponytail, the muscles in her arms flexing as she tightens it above her head. “I know what you mean.”</p><p>He turns away from the windows so he doesn’t have to look at Percy anymore, and starts rummaging in the cupboards for breakfast. Piper pulls herself up onto the counter next to him, so she can watch him work and complain about the final project for one of her poli sci classes. </p><p>She must see Percy and Annabeth wrapping up, because she glances out the window and then puts her hand on his shoulder, squeezing until he looks at her. With her on the counter, they’re almost the same height. </p><p>“I’ll make you a deal,” she says, her face deadly serious all of a sudden.</p><p>He looks at her. Even if they antagonize each other all the time, just for the fun of it, she’s still in the top five of the people he trusts most in the world. She was his first kiss, and his first relationship, (before she realized she was “definitely a lesbian, wow,”). </p><p>She was one of the first people he told that he was bi, and one of the first people that showed him actual, unconditional support. Without her, he’d probably be at some private California college, getting a business degree so he could work for his dad’s firm for the rest of his life. </p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>She puts her other hand on his other shoulder, holding him in place. “If I tell Annabeth how I feel, you’ll tell Percy how you feel, and vice versa. Before graduation.”</p><p>He closes his eyes against it, but she shakes him a little until he focuses on her again. </p><p>“Pinky promise me, dude. You talk to him, I talk to her.”</p><p>He puts up his left hand, pinky curled up towards her and she squeezes it with her own. </p><p>With his arm like this, his tattoo stands out harsh against the pale skin of his inner arm. He stares at the eagle and pictures his father’s face, regal and disapproving in equal measures. His dad would hate Percy, hate how he speaks his mind and isn’t ashamed to be bi or trans or not white. </p><p>“Deal.”</p><p>His dad already hates Jason a little, for going to a state school on the other side of the country and standing up to him about politics. It’s not like who Jason ends up with is any of the man’s business anyway.</p><p>He’s cooking again, stirring his waffle mix when Percy and Annabeth come in, sweaty and disgusting, both of them still breathing a little heavy from the exertion. Piper is texting, but she looks up and smiles when she hears the door. </p><p>Jason doesn’t turn around to greet them, but it doesn’t discourage Percy from wrapping his sweaty arms around Jason’s waist from behind, rubbing the sweat from his face onto the back of Jason’s shirt like that’s a normal human action.</p><p>Percy is grinning at him when he turns around, and Jason can’t help but smile back, even as he goes to tackle him in retribution. Percy steps out of his grasp easily and tugs himself up onto the counter next to Piper. </p><p>“What’s for breakfast, Jase?”</p><p>Jason groans at him, and rolls his eyes as pointedly as he can. “I don’t know, Percy. What are you making yourself for breakfast? These are for me.”</p><p>“Liar,” Percy says, leaning around Piper so he can get a better look at the amount of batter in the bowl. “That’s definitely enough for me, too.”</p><p>Obviously it is, because Jason is first and foremost, a little whipped. He likes the idea of taking care of Percy, being the one to get breakfast on the table for both of them. He’s not great at expressing his feelings in words, but he can do this.</p><p> He can hold Percy while he sleeps, and he can cook for him, and he can make sure he feels loved and safe and cared for. He’s seen how warm the Jacksons’ apartment is, the way it radiates home. He wants to be the one to recreate that for Percy, wherever they are.</p><p>When he piles the waffles onto four plates, because Piper and Annabeth had demanded their fair share as well, he hands Percy his last, paired with the most long-suffering sigh he can manage. </p><p>Percy beams at him.</p><p>Piper watches it, and then leans over so her lips brush Jason’s ear when she mutters “simp,” so quietly that even he has to strain to hear her.</p><p>He deserves it, probably.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. the wegmans beer aisle, fall semester, senior year</h2></a>
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    <p>“I don’t want to be a dick, dude, but we’ve been here forever. Can you just pick, so we can go?” Percy’s trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice, but it still manages to bleed through a little. Jason deserves it, probably. They really have been in this aisle forever, Percy leaned up against a shelf of craft ciders while Jason crouches on the ground, picking up and putting down individual cans seemingly at random. </p><p>He’s tired as hell, dragged to the store after a long day of class and an even longer day of homework after it. If it had been anyone but Jason, he wouldn’t have gone, but he’d let the other boy talk him out of going to sleep early in favor of “a quick run to the store, that’s it!”</p><p>Jason must have gone through half the shelves by now and he only has three cans to show for it, haphazardly piled into one of the build-it-yourself six packs Wegmans offers. The beers can’t possibly be that different, but Jason seems intent on building the perfect set, ignoring the fact that it’s at least 11 pm.</p><p>There’s been a 30-pack of Genesee Light sitting at Percy’s feet for upwards of fifteen minutes, and a 12-pack of Labatt Seltzer has joined it since then. You can say a lot of things about him, but you can’t call him high maintenance. He lets himself slump a little heavier onto the shelf, crossing his fingers that the cans he can feel shifting behind him don’t fall. He doesn’t have it in him to clean them up right now, but Sally Jackson didn’t raise the kind of boy who would make a mess and not help fix it. Better to avoid the problem altogether. </p><p>Jason rises into a squat, seemingly done with the bottom row of the shelves. He stays facing away from Percy though, still focused on his task. </p><p>It’s kind of sweet, the way that he cares so much about this. It would be cuter if Jason was 21 and didn’t need a babysitter to buy his stupid craft beer for him. Until then, Percy is stuck accompanying him so they don’t have to rely on the “sorry, my ID is at home,” trick with the cashiers. It’s not like Jason doesn’t have a fake, but they like to do things legally unless it’s a real emergency (read: Percy and Frank aren’t home, and the house has run out of booze). </p><p>Jason is muttering to himself again, so Percy shoots Annabeth a text to let her know that they’re gonna have hard seltzer at the house again, so she doesn’t have to bring her own the next time she comes over to drink with them. Might as well be a little productive while he’s waiting. His feet are cold, and he probably should have thrown a flannel or something on over his hoodie. He really didn’t think they were gonna be here that long, which is a miscalculation on his part. He knows Jason better than that.</p><p>“Fine, okay, I’m ready to go,” Jason groans, pushing himself up out of the squat and back to standing. He must have been down there for a while if his legs are stiff. Not for nothing, the dude does not skip leg day.</p><p>“Fucking finally,” Percy complains, leaning down for his boxes. He starts to head for the cash registers, but Jason grunts out a “hold on” and dips back towards the stacks of shitty beer, grabbing another 30-pack. This one is Genny Cream Ale, and Percy groans as Jason comes back towards him.</p><p>“If that’s what you wanted, why didn’t we just grab it when we got here? Do you really need the fancy shit?”</p><p>“Yes,” Jason snips, looking down his nose at Percy’s Genny Light. “This is for you animals, the six-pack is for me.”</p><p>“You realize I’m going to have to carry all of this up to the cash register by myself? I don’t have enough hands, and you were the one who didn’t want to get a cart.”</p><p>“Nah,” Jason says, craning his neck to get a look at the cashiers who are working. “I think Matt is here, we’re good.”</p><p>Matt is kind of a dick, and he flirts with Jason every time they see each other. Percy fucking hates him. How many times does Jason have to brush him off gently before he gets the hint?</p><p>He voices that to Jason, and is met with a considering look. “What, are you jealous?”</p><p>Of Jason? No. Matt is cute enough, but he’s not really Percy’s type. Of Matt, for being the one to flirt with Jason? Maybe, but that’s none of Jason’s business. Something must show on his face, because Jason snickers and starts to lead him over to the cashier’s aisle. </p><p>“We can play a couple, if you’d prefer,” he tosses over his shoulder before they get to the end of the counter and he throws his 30-pack up on the conveyor belt. </p><p>Percy closes his eyes briefly and wishes for strength. They don’t pull this charade often, but it makes him feel naked and exposed, every time. He tugs the strings of his hoodie a little, scrunching it tighter around his face before he moves with Jason.</p><p>There’s enough room behind Jason’s beers that when he steps closer Percy can put the Genny Light and the seltzers behind it. He tries to avoid eye contact with Matt, but he can’t quite tune out the sound of his voice saying “Oh, hey Jason! How are things?”</p><p>“They’re good,” Jason says, warmth in his voice like there’s nowhere else he’d rather be than the Wegmans checkout line. “How are you, man? Still working on that masters’?”</p><p>Of course Matt isn’t a lowly undergraduate, like the rest of them. He’s worldly, already got one degree under his belt and working on another. His bachelors is from another SUNY if Percy remembers right, but it’s still a degree.</p><p>“Yeah, it’s kind of a bitch, but I think I’ve got my final project under control,” Matt says, smiling up at Jason as he scans the boxes. “You got your ID, man?”</p><p>Jason goes for his wallet confidently, like he thinks he’s aged a year in the last five minutes and his ID will suddenly be horizontal. He pulls it out and flips through performatively, before letting out a soft “fuck.”</p><p>Matt scowls a little, confused. “You got it?”</p><p>Jason flips through his wallet again, huffing out a sigh when he yet again, fails to produce his ID. “I don’t have it on me. Shit, I could swear I had it when we left the house.” He tips his head back, like he’s praying for strength, and then tips it towards Percy.</p><p>“Baby, any chance you have yours?” </p><p>Percy goes for his wallet as Jason continues talking, not even giving Matt the chance to respond. “Is that okay? I know the law says you have to ID everyone in the group, but you know us,” he says, bringing his hands up in a what-can-you-do gesture. </p><p>Matt looks at him for a long time, and then over at Percy. The dude hid his wince pretty well when Jason said “baby,” but there’s a softer glint in his eyes now, like he thinks he doesn’t have a chance with Jason anymore and is accepting it. “You’re both seniors, right?”</p><p>They nod in unison, Percy holding out his ID as Jason twines their free hands together. </p><p>“Yeah, okay,” Matt says, reaching for Percy’s ID and scanning it quickly. “If you see my boss, I ID’d you both.”</p><p>“Understood,” Jason grins, squeezing Percy’s hand gently and holding on while Percy slides his credit card into the reader. </p><p>They make it through the rest of the transaction without incident. Matt wishes them each a nice evening with a faker smile than before, and only nods at Jason’s promise of “free drinks at Kappa Sig, any time you want!”</p><p>They’re out in the parking lot before Jason drops his hand, and Percy misses the warmth immediately. He covers it up by going for his keys to unlock the trunk, and tugging it open. Jason tosses his 30-pack in the trunk and reaches for Percy’s keys, tugging them back out of his jacket pocket while he loads his own beer in. </p><p>Percy grabs for them back, futilely, misses, and settles for shotgun in his own fucking car. It’s not much of a fight. He’s tired, and Jason’s one of the best drivers he knows, even if he’d never ever say it to his face. </p><p>He lets himself grab for the Bluetooth instead and pull up one of his playlists, the one that’s more his mom’s classic rock than anything else. It feels like home, and he closes his eyes as Jason pulls out of the parking lot in the direction of their house. </p><p>He passes out pretty much immediately, stirring a little when Jason takes them through some stop-and-go traffic, muttering something quiet about chicken nuggets, and a milkshake. It doesn’t sound like anything he needs to be involved in, so he just shifts over in his seat, keeping his eyes closed against the streetlights. </p><p>They’re in the house’s driveway when he wakes up to Jason shaking him awake gently. The car smells like fast food, and the beer is stacked on the house’s front porch. He must have been out for a while if Jason could do all of that without waking him. He yawns, trying to shake off his residual sleepiness before they head inside. </p><p>By the time they make it to the door, Leo has already dragged everything in, leaving a clear pathway for Percy to collapse on the couch. Jupiter sits patiently by his feet until Percy leans down to pat him and then, satisfied, hops up on one of the arm chairs. </p><p>Jason comes back in from the kitchen, picking Percy’s feet up long enough to sit down and then dropping them back into his lap. When Percy looks up at him, he’s being offered a Wendy’s bag and a chocolate Frosty. He doesn’t have to look to know that the bag holds spicy nuggets and fries. Jason knows him. </p><p>Apparently satisfied, Jason leans down to grab what must be his own food off the floor, followed by a beer that Percy doesn’t recognize. He opens it, takes a swig and passes it over, waving it under Percy’s nose until he grabs it and takes a sip of his own. </p><p>It’s a pilsner, good but definitely not worth the $3 Jason spent on it. Jason is looking at him expectantly though, and he takes another drink, trying to muster up adjectives to answer Jason’s silent question. </p><p>“I don’t know, man,” he comes up with finally, washing it down with four fries. “It’s good, but I think I’ll just stick with my cheap shit.” </p><p>Jason takes the bottle back, keeping one hand on Percy’s shins. “You got me there,” he grunts, and his thumb starts a slow back-and-forth, just heavy enough that it feels like the weirdest-placed massage Percy has ever gotten. It feels so comforting that he finds himself struggling to stay awake again, like all the wind has gone out of his sails again. </p><p>They sit like that in silence, eating their Wendy’s. Jason must be slowed down significantly, eating with one hand, but he doesn’t move his hand from Percy’s legs, and Percy doesn’t mention it. When he finishes his nuggets he just gives in and tips his head back against the arm of the sofa, closing his eyes again. He’s accepted his lot in life by now, that he is going to fall asleep on this shitty sofa unless someone intervenes. It’s out of his hands. </p><p>Jason starts to mumble, the way he does when he knows Percy is trying to sleep. They’ve perfected it by now. Percy explained it to him once, that he likes falling asleep with some kind of background noise because he’s used to it. In his bedroom in his mom’s apartment, there was nothing but street noise at all hours of the day. Upstate is too quiet, too peaceful for him sometimes. </p><p>Ever since, if they’re in the same place—whether it’s one of their rooms, the living room, or even a car on a road trip—Jason will talk nonsense until he’s sure Percy is asleep. His voice is low, both in volume and in octave, and Percy knows the slow rumble of it better than his own at this point. </p><p>“I just want a fucking 805,” he starts, tugging a blanket over his lap and Percy’s legs. “I can’t find them anywhere here. Not like they’re really worth shipping across the country, but they’re good, you know? I think you’d like them.” </p><p>His hand starts rubbing up and down Percy’s shin bone. It’s soft as hell. “Piper swears it’s just another light beer or whatever, but they taste like home for me.” He clicks his tongue for a second, like he’s asking Jupiter to do something, and suddenly Percy can hear the dog’s heavy breaths next to him, like he’s moved to the floor next to the sofa. It’s the best kind of white noise.</p><p>“I mean, you’d like them because you like shitty beer. Like, they’re not that good, I don’t want to get your hopes up or anything. 805 is like Genny Light in a different fucking can, but, I don’t know, it’s southern California’. I drank them in high school, you know how it is. Still, I’d kill for one right now. Maybe if we go to Piper’s house over spring break like we talked about, we can pick up a six pack or something. We’ll get you the whole California experience, there’s nothing like it…”</p><p>Percy’s asleep between one breath and the next.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>In my head, Jason definitely has a very clear definition of who it is appropriate to refer to as "babe" versus who it is appropriate to refer to as "baby." Babe is for people he's flirting with, friends, or partners. Baby is for partners only, but it slips way more often than he would like when he's talking to Percy, especially if they're tired or drunk. </p><p>RE: The whole pretending-to-be-a-couple thing: they've definitely done it several times. Usually it's if someone is flirting with one of them and they're trying to get out of it as politely as possible. They both fall into it a little too easily, and every time it happens Annabeth and Piper make fun of them for how oblivious they're being. "Jason, he wouldn't play along if he didn't feel the same way about you," and "Percy, don't be dumb" have both come out of their mouths several times.</p>
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